The ruthless pursuit of profit leads to slavery in many forms. History illustrates this painful reality and teaches hard-won lessons about the motivations and treatment of our fellow human beings. "Jamaica Blood" reflects these lessons in its portrayal of the struggle for freedom by strong-willed, right-minded figures like Zambo, The Priest, and Raissa. Escaping enslavement of one form or another, small bands of refugees find that attaining freedom is not an end to their struggles and so they join forces to fight with the hope that justice will prevail. Piercing characterizations of brutal, self-serving landowners poignantly juxtapose the simple struggle for basic human rights, while piracy and combat add to the adventure of Kessler’s realistic historical vision. Life and death, strength and illness, freedom and enslavement, equity and injustice, these are the dichotomies existing in 1660s Jamaica – will everyone get exactly what they deserve?